Rafa Benitez has spoken of his delight at beating Norwich City - even if his gut reaction was calmer than the rest of his players and staff.

At 4-3, Newcastle’s bench cleared as the back-room team and subs sprinted down the touchline to celebrate a famous win. The victory claws United back up the table and denied Norwich an important result.

Benitez said: “I was there. I was not jumping, but I was there in the middle. I am getting older.

“I am the kind of manager who gets excited, but especially inside because I am really proud when I see the team reacting. I am really proud of them.

“Some people will jump or run or whatever, but I am happy inside because I think it’s something that’s difficult to achieve when you have a group of players and you have to push, push in these circumstances, and then it’s really important to see them working so hard and doing so well.”

And when asked if the celebrations proved Newcastle were together, Benitez said: “It’s important to show that the team is there, the team is together.

“The fans and the players, we have to find a way that if everything is fine, it will be easier, but if something is wrong, still we have to stick together because it will be really important for us for the future.

“Today as soon as we scored the goal, the fans were supporting the team and the players ran a little bit more.”